Morgan Leatherwood

I grew up 5 minutes away from the Atlantic Ocean, so when I'm any farther away from it I feel a sense of longing for home- but for freedom at the same time. I feel an incredible sense of hope and exhilaration when I have the wide expanse of the ocean in front of me and only sand between my toes and the sun above my head. I have always been involved in music, since I was in the womb, even. My mom loves to sing, and from her, I gained a beautiful sense of what the world could be like with a little extra sound in it. Ever since, I have been captivated by the way people can find music in everything- even silence. I strive to find the beauty in everything I see, and everything I don't see. I was always good with English in school, but I didn't find my passion for it until I first began to write poetry. There's a certain appeal to the way the words flow through your hand onto the page that is unparalleled in any other form of writing. Cognitive thinking and a desire to see more than I have seen leads me to write my heart's most dear desires in any way I can. Poetry is so beautiful because it expresses our wishes in the most gentle, yet direct way- in any given moment, my heart is out on paper. It's a certain special vulnerability that inspires me to look to the sky for answers to questions I have yet to ask. I can only hope that as I continue to try to live my life to the fullest I can at this moment, I stumble upon something amazing- something inspiring. I hope by writing down everything I think and feel, one day it will be inspiring to someone else.